Confirmed: Bungie splitting from Microsoft!
Wow. I can certainly see the possibility of truth in this:
Microsoft: You shall make Halo 4-400.
Bungie: You didn't make Halo 1-3 very much fun, ya know.
Microsoft: Please submit your questions to our new VP of Interactive Entertainment.
Looking at my favorite games on the 360, I'm not so sure MS has a great record of managing their properties. Rare isn't looking so hot. Epic succeeded with Gears but perhaps there was a serious setback to their engine business, I don't know. After seeing the rants from Dennis Dyack and Mitch Gitelman, specifically the wording I've heard from Dyack, I suspect that Microsoft puts ungodly pressure on their developers. I'm also concerned that we are so close to entering the Xmas 07 shopping season and we don't really know what's coming out in 08. Not ragging on Microsoft, they make my current favorite console, but it's still alarming nonetheless (if it's even true).
Cue Gameguru in 5... 4...
We shall grapple with the ineffable, and see if we may not eff it after all.
Here's the meat of the news:
We shall grapple with the ineffable, and see if we may not eff it after all.
I'd be glad to see multiplatform games from them, that's all I can say. =)
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
Pathways into Darkness remake + fleshing out of the universe/story....
Pathways into Darkness remake + fleshing out of the universe/story....
I'd love to see what new things they can bring up though... since Marathon and Halo were pretty similar in ideologies - but different in the moral end points of their respective mythos...
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Neither company is denying it.
We shall grapple with the ineffable, and see if we may not eff it after all.
That's the way Microsoft PR always works. They don't let the developers speak for themselves (usual practice) and they never comment on rumors. The only time they'll speak about this is if it's true and they confirm it. Otherwise, they won't say anything.
I cannot possibly believe Microsoft would allow this to happen. When was the last time you heard of any company letting one its most profitable acquisitions separate from the hive mind? I would think they'd offer key Bungie people loads of cash to stay on the payroll (like Take-Two did with the Housers of Rockstar) than allow them to spin off. They're just too big a cash cow and even if a large section of the staff were to leave, Microsoft could conceivably put together another team capable of carrying on Halo. I'm not surprised Microsoft wants them to be a Halo factory because it's such a guaranteed hit but if they were starting to say they wanted to leave, I would think Microsoft's next response would be "OK, let's give you money to start a second team to work on a new game." I suppose anything is possible but this is like Vivendi letting Blizzard go independent. It would be such a blow to a company who's gaming division is continuing to lose money even with this massive success. I'll definitely be following this but I will be blown out of my chair if it happens.
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No way.
That's pretty much where I'm at.
I'll pay attention to it because the idea itself is intriguing from an industry standpoint, but I just cannot imagine Microsoft actually letting it happen.
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Parallax pretty much covered my feelings on this, I just do not see Microsoft letting Bungie slip through their fingers. I will be shocked beyond belief if it actually happens.
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They can keep Bungie but that won't stop people from leaving Bungie to do their thing under freedom. Easiest way to check if this is true is to do what the source said; Ask anyone who works there to search the global address book, they're no longer in there.
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If Bungie employees don't want to work with Microsoft, they would just leave... just like Alexander Seropian and start his own company, Wideload Games.
For those who don't know A. Seropian, he founded Bungie and was responsible for Marathon, Myth and Halo 1.
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Let's put it this way, if it was 100% horsesh*t both companies would deny it.
We shall grapple with the ineffable, and see if we may not eff it after all.
I think Microsoft cutting Bungie loose as a "thank you" is naive and unlikely. It's possible Bungie had something in the contract allowing them to pull out once certain (Halo) obligations/targets were met. Microsoft is in the business of BUYING studios, not cutting them loose. They wouldn't let the developers behind the hottest game brand this side of GTA or Mario go unless they had no other choice. It's nice to own the brand, but "Bungie" on its own is also a brand they would be loathe to release.
Worth noting that the Bungie studios are far removed from the Microsoft campus, they were never really IN Microsoft. I would say that if Bungie is free, they'll be in a similar position that Insomniac Games is in with Sony. An "independent" who just happens to do nothing but games for Sony platforms.
Certis beat me to it. - Elysium
Don't forget, folks, that the Halo franchise isn't over yet. Halo Wars is still on the way as is an unamed project involving Peter Jackson. Doesn't make a lot of sense for Microsoft to let Bungie go when there's still some milk left in the Halo cash cow.
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It doesn't have to be a matter of Microsoft letting Bungie go. When I remember Black Monday all those years ago, I remember it as Microsoft simply buying a controlling share of Bungie- not the entire thing.
Now, I am not a lawyer, or anyone who would have a great idea of such things- but couldn't a controlling share be anywhere from 51% (if shared by 2 parties) to 34% (3 parties) to even 11% (10 parties). And if there's more than 1 party who has control in Bungie (I imagine Bungie's founders- Jason Jones etc- have shares themselves) pools their shares together (Microsoft had 40%, Jason had 30%, Other guy had 30%- now Microsoft has 40% and Jason has 50%) couldn't Bungie just voluntarily leave?
I quote Gappo the Great from the bungie.net forums:
Rat-Boy: Halo is still owned by MS and Halo Wars is being developed by a company other than Bungie. If Bungie and MS split, Halo 4 could conveivably be developed by Rare. MS would be idiots to do so, but they own Halo- not Bungie.
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Bungie cant leave Microsoft.. as well as the Halo franchise cannot leave Microsoft.. since they (Microsoft) own all that.. BUT "Bungie" Employees are nothing but glorified Microsoft employees and they would be free to leave and form their own studio at will. I'm sure some of the top Bungie dogs have non competes of some form to prevent them from wholesale pimping all the employees if they were to leave.. BUT there are ways around that.. and it could be that a few are leaving and taking some key Bungie employees for certain concessions down the road with Microsoft.
But this isnt ZOMG! Halo is now on the PS3!@!@!!!
Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter
85's face the truth you're too dumb.
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Timing seems off, doesn't it? If Bungie has the means to leave, they'd step on a lot of toes - fans and Microsoft - by leaving right after launch.
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You heard it here first folks.
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
Megaton!
Yeah, I somehow have a hard time seeing Microsoft letting the complete company go. Right now that the fight with the competition is about to intensify? That surely would be a sensation. I can fully picture Bungie being sick of developing more Halo games at this point though. Either way, it's bad PR work. If the rumors are not true, that's not the way you should respond.
That's the thing though, I don't think they would. Microsoft never denies rumors, they only refuse to comment on the ones that aren't true or haven't been announced yet. They'll never say "We're not letting Bungie go." The only time they'll say something other than "Microsoft doesn't comment on rumors and speculation." is when they issue the press release announcing Bungie's departure. And since Bungie is under the control of Microsoft PR right now, they will adopt the same tone. All I'm saying is until they confirm it, consider it false.
Umm...yeah you do. The first screen that comes up is the screen showing Microsoft's copyright of the game, followed by the Microsoft Game Studios logo, then the Bungie logo. Microsoft is very prominently displayed.
"We're taught from a young age how to dodge rock hard objects moving at incredible rates of speed while simultaneously beating folks half to death with sticks. We do this for fun." -kung fu grip
http://blog.digital-lifeline.ca
It's possible that Bungie needed to be free of Microsoft publicly in order to secure a contract or negotiations with another entity that does not wish to be under the Microsoft blanket but will deal with Bungie. In turn Bungie gets a game that is cool and then markets it to Microsoft for publishing on the PC and the Xbox360. It's a win win situation if this is the case. Can't see the truth for all the smoke and mirrors.
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"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross." - Sinclair Lewis.
It's someone's time of the month, eh?
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What?
Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter
85's face the truth you're too dumb.
http://www.myspace.com/armyofthepharaohs
Just every post i've seen you make recently has been overly negative or sensational...
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Hmm.. that reads like neither.. perhaps your reading to much into it. I simply stated the obvious. Microsoft owns the IP's but not employees.
Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter
85's face the truth you're too dumb.
http://www.myspace.com/armyofthepharaohs
At this point, HALO can continue just like Madden continues. The basics of the game are established, and if they lose Bungie's leadership they'll just slip some other folks in there with the command to not go crazy with innovation and screw up the franchise.
How would MS ever bounce back?!
don't you wonder sometimes...
By buying Epic or id Software. id's contract with Activision wasn't renewed by id and they are supposedly being courted by EA. A bigger fish could always make a move to gobble them up as well.
All in all, I would say this rumor stinks like a dumpster on a summer day. Everything I've read has said that Microsoft has given Bungie every courtesy imaginable and kept hands off so far. They're not going to make any moves to jeopardize that relationship.
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While I don't think this is true, it would be awsome.
Please let my precious Bungie go Microsoft.
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The Marathon Bungie is very different from the current Halo 3 Bungie.. Its almost a completely different company now. At this point your looking at a name and thats about it.
Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter
85's face the truth you're too dumb.
http://www.myspace.com/armyofthepharaohs
Stop ruining my dreams...
"I love deadlines; I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by" - Douglas Adams
The Cake Is A Lie
That's not exactly true. The studio was initially located on the outskirts of the main Microsoft campus, but after Halo 2 MS allowed them to move to a new facility in Kirkland, an East-side suburb of Seattle that is basically adjacent to Redmond.
This rumor seems a bit off to me, but I wouldn't be all that surprised if it turned out to be at least partially true. Not everybody in Bungie has been happy with Microsoft.
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